Junk Food: Something you eat that provides short-term satisfaction at the expense of long-term health.
Junk Movement: A way of moving that provides short-term fitness benefits at the expense of long-term health.

Katy Bowman (Footnote 1)
Creator of Restorative Exercise™

We all accept that some foods are nutritious and some are not. But, if all you eat is spinach 3x a day you have not achieved a balanced diet.

A balanced movement diet is similar. Just like only eating spinach, if you sit in a chair most of the day, you have not achieved a balanced body.

Movement, just like food, provides the mechanical requirement for human tissues to thrive. Moving invigorates our tissues, cells and bones. It also hydrates and removes waste. It provides the essential vitamins for a healthy body.

You respond: “I exercise 4x a week! so I must have a balanced body, right?” But exercise is a subset of movement.

Exercise usually involves small quantities of high intensity repetitive movements in the joints. Most exercise overuses a few joints while the rest of the body is dormant.

“What are you training for?” writes Kristine Rudolph (Footnote 2). “Is your training relevant and appropriate to the “sport” for which you are training?” If you lift weights at the gym, then you are training to lift weights at the gym. If you swim, you are training to swim, etc., etc.

“One of the reasons people feel the need to stretch tight areas is because they don’t spend very much time in positions that lengthen these parts. You can keep searching for the “perfect exercise program” or you can just change how you move all day long. Think about it.” Katy Bowman, Restorative Exercise™

I propose a new paradigm: Training for all day movement.

Restorative Exercise™ is a biomechanical movement program created by Katy Bowman. Her teachings and books provide a model of preventive and corrective exercises with emphasis on body alignment for optimal benefit from movement.

Restorative Exercise™ advocates walking as the most basic yet nourishing movement snack for the human body.

Walking is a comprehensive and complex movement that contributes to whole body wellness. If you walk well you can recruit the muscles that build glute and hamstring strength, retain flexible and strong feet, and provide pelvic health.

Walking can also provide cardio and circulation, waste removal, and bone building impact.

“Chew your food” is a common saying. Most of us have also heard advice like, “Stand up straight,” but we rarely get detailed instructions. Since we do not hunt and gather but rather sit and type, many of us have forgotten or never learned how to move well.

Often we mimic our parents’ improper movement patterns and end up with the same aches and pains they had. To add to this, the basic sequence of heel strike, roll to toe and push off may have been compromised by a lifetime of shoe wearing and other cultural factors.

Now that we are Adults, learning how to walk in alignment can take a long time. Changing your gait pattern is difficult but worth the effort to reap the benefits of health.

“The opposite of Sedentary is not exercise. The opposite of Sedentary is Movement. The more you move the less Sedentary you are. The End.” Jenni Rawlings (Footnote 3).

To start your path to better health, check out Lori Robbins’ walking workshop, Build A Butt – How Gait Affects Your Glutes, on June 13th from 1pm to 3pm, at Willow Glen Yoga.